Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Faculty 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf January 6, 2025

1996’s “Scream” changed everything for producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein. They released the movie as Christmas season counterprogramming, hoping to attract an audience looking to avoid the usual in family fare and Oscar bait, delivering a winky slasher film starring a young cast, keeping things aimed at the teen demographic. A holiday miracle occurred when “Scream” actually caught on with viewers, growing beyond its original marketplace purpose to become a major hit, and for Christmas 1997, a sequel was quickly slapped together using the same creative ingredients, resulting in another smash release for Dimension Films. A formula for genre entertainment was discovered, and the Weinsteins never turned their back on a chance to cash in on a fad, swiftly cooking up various endeavors that paired horror happenings with young thespians (using the to-do list on teen comedies as well), and “The Faculty” was soon manufactured for 1998. “Scream” screenwriter Kevin Williamson is brought in to sprinkle his creative magic(?) on the project, which reimagines “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” as teen terror, following a collection of students as they battle an alien invasion occurring around their high school. Director Robert Rodriguez, fresh off the moderate success of “Desperado” and “From Dusk Till Dawn,” is hired to bring a bit of snap to the picture, but something is off about “The Faculty.” A slam-dunk premise is left dangling by a limited cast and general sluggishness from the usually excitable helmer (who also edits the effort), who never gets the feature up to speed as a chiller or thriller, taking his time with material that’s best played as fast as possible.

In Ohio, the staff at Herrington High School is suffering due to budget cuts, finding the football program, led by Coach Willis (Robert Patrick), most valued under Principal Drake’s (Bebe Neuwirth) rule. However, everything is about to change, as an alien parasite has arrived to claim the faculty, spreading rapidly among the adults. The students aren’t initially aware of the change, focusing on their own problems, but, soon enough, geeky Casey (Elijah Wood), drug dealer Zeke (Josh Hartnett), goth girl Stokley (Clea DuVall), new student Marybeth (Laura Harris), and quarterback Stan (Shawn Hatosy) recognize fresh dangers in the hallway. Teaming up to survive, the group searches for ways to fight back against the aggressor, watching as their peers are turned into zombies as the alien threat increases.

“The Faculty” doesn’t stray far from “Scream” territory, even offering a pre-title sequence of terror that closely matches the 1996 film, following a terrified character as she’s hunted by a demented predator, desperate to find help before she’s taken by evil. Williamson’s in recycle mode here, soon introducing a large cast of characters he’s tasked with identifying in just a few moves. This includes Casey, who’s horrifically bullied, and Zeke is a second-year-senior who sells “Magic Dust” to classmates, hiding great intelligence underneath his Moe Howard haircut. “The Faculty” also attempts to detail the staff, as mousy Miss Burke (Famke Janssen) is left to face pushy students, and Mr. Tate (Daniel von Bargen) openly drinks on the job. There’s a lot of hostility going around Herrington High, making it a prime spot for an alien uprising to occur, commencing with Casey’s discovery of a dried-out specimen on the football field.

Water plays an important part in “The Faculty,” as the human hosts crave the stuff, helping to identify a growing threat in the school. Williamson doesn’t launch a nail-biter with the feature, keeping things somewhat static as the students begin hunting for clues, slowly understanding that the staff (including Salma Hayek, Jon Stewart, Piper Laurie, and, good lord, Harry Knowles) is being changed, and they’re coming after the kids. “The Faculty” makes a little effort to develop personalities, especially with Stan, a football hero who’s trying to escape sports and value his education. However, so much of this dramatic heavy lifting is handed to largely unseasoned actors, and performances tend to miss their intended levels of concern and attitude.

The Faculty 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Screencaps are taken from the Blu-ray.

"The Faculty" has been issued on Blu-ray in 2012, 2014, and 2020, and Shout Factory hopes to try their luck with the title via a UHD release, listed as a "new 4K scan from the original camera negative approved by director Robert Rodriguez." The Dolby Vision viewing experience works through a lot of darkness, as much of the movie takes place at night. Frame information is mostly preserved, offering deep blacks that teeter on the edge of solidification. Detail is generally acceptable, exploring school interiors and their decorative additions. Skin particulars are textured, exploring a range of ages, and makeup additions are appreciable, along with goopier special effects as bodies decay. Exteriors remain deep as the action visits a football field and tours the campus. Colors are sharp, offering brighter primaries on period style and greenery. Nuanced hues inside science labs and aquatic events are preserved. Highlights are tasteful. Skin tones are natural. Grain is fine and film-like. Source is in good condition.

The Faculty 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix delivers crisp dialogue exchanges, making sense of varied performance styles and some mumbled delivery. Scoring is sharp, with defined instrumentation, extending to soundtrack selections, which also provide precise vocals. Surrounds play with music immersion at times, adding moments of intensity. Atmospherics are lively, exploring hallway bustle and football activity, joined by pronounced school announcements and aquatic elements. Sound effects are sharp. Low-end adds some weight to violent encounters and heavier music beats.

The Faculty 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• "The Thing from Another Classroom" (20:31, HD) is an interview with special makeup and creature effects artist Greg Nicotero, who recalls his immediate bond with director Robert Rodriguez, as the men shared the same cinematic influences. Inspired by design work from Bernie Wrightson, Nicotero and his unit strived to maintain as many practical effects in the movie as possible, facing competition from the visual effects team. The interviewee highlights creative achievements, working to develop "living" creatures, focusing on water aliens and large-scale puppeteering, which required extensive labor to manipulate. Additional crew were required for scenes involving a pool attack, and the squad ended up recycling machinery used on "Spawn" to help generate an enormous threat for "The Faculty." Also included are BTS moments from the shoot, providing a look at the effort involved to help bring these ghoulish ideas to the screen.

• "Too Cool for School" (9:00, HD) is a video conference interview with production designer Gary White, who was tasked to create a "creepy" educational building, working around an old school for the deaf in Austin, TX for exteriors, also finding a gymnasium in the community that required some work to decorate, testing the patience of the crew. The interviewee highlights other pieces of the puzzle as well, locating a pool and finding retractable bleachers for use in the feature's finale. Additional creative influences are identified, and White shares a brief anecdote concerning a time he stood a little too close to a special effect triggered in the water.

• A Theatrical Trailer has not been included on this release.

The Faculty 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rodriguez is living out his monster movie dreams in "The Faculty," which partially invests in practical effects that become the highlights of the film (crude CGI ruins the fun). Yet this enthusiasm doesn't sustain throughout the viewing experience as it covers limp dialogue exchanges and a general lack of thrilling escalation as the alien event dominates the school. The production lifts ideas from better features, but can't find its own footing as a scary movie, missing crisp pacing as things grow dire for the teens. A riveting level of paranoia is also lacking, keeping "The Faculty" strangely leaden as it tries to work itself up into a frenzy, unable to really capture the seemingly surefire concept in an entertaining and frightening way.